Über die Autorin bzw. den Autor

MICHAEL C. THOMSETT is a financial writer whose books include Getting Started in Options and Getting Started in Real Estate Investing. An experienced investor, he has successfully owned and managed as many as 12 properties at a time.

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For nearly twenty years, The Little Black Book of Project Management has provided businesspeople everywhere with a quick and effective introduction to project management tools and methodology. This revised and updated third edition reflects the newest techniques and the latest project management software, as well as the most recent changes to the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK™).

Whether you’re just starting a project or in the “thick of things,” you’ll find invaluable strategies for:

• Organizing any project

• Choosing your project team

• Preparing your budget—and sticking to it

• Scheduling, flowcharting, and controlling your project

• Preparing project documentation

• Managing communications both inside and outside the project team

• And much more

A fast-read solution for both seasoned and first-time project managers,The Little Black Book of Project Management can help any professional achieve on-time results, superior organizational ability, consistent profit generation, and a reputation for both quality and dependability.

Michael C. Thomsett is the author of many books, including The Stock Investor’s Pocket Calculator, The Real Estate Investor’s Pocket Calculator, andGetting Started in Six Sigma, as well as previous editions of The Little Black Book of Project Management. He lives in Nashville.

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The Little Black Book of Project Management

AMACOM

Contents

Introduction to the Third Edition...................................ix1 Organizing for the Long Term......................................12 The Six Sigma Approach............................................213 Creating the Plan.................................................364 Choosing the Project Team.........................................565 Preparing the Project Budget......................................756 Establishing a Schedule...........................................947 Flowcharting for Project Control..................................1098 Designing the Project Flowchart...................................1279 Managing the Value Chain in the Project...........................14610 Writing the Supporting Documentation.............................16011 Conducting the Project Review....................................17712 The Communication Challenge......................................19513 Project Management and Your Career...............................21614 Finding the Best Project Management Software.....................229Appendix: Work Project Answers......................................233Glossary............................................................253Index...............................................................257

Chapter One

Never tell people how to do things. Tell them what to do and they will surprise you with their ingenuity.

—GEORGE S. PATTON—

The new clerk in the mailroom noticed an elderly gentleman sitting in a corner, slowly sorting through a mountain of mail.

"Who's that?" he asked the supervisor.

"That's old Charlie. He's been with the company more than forty years."

The new clerk asked, "Are you saying he never made it out of the mailroom?"

"He did, but then he asked to be transferred here—after spending a few years as a project manager."

Dread. That is a common reaction most managers have to being given a project assignment. Few managers will seek out the project, and most will avoid it if possible. Why?

First, a distinction has to be made between projects and routines. The routines associated with operation of your department are repetitive in nature. Put another way, they are predictable. That means that the recurring operations you execute can be planned as a matter of course. Once you have gone through your normal cycle a few times, you know what to expect. Because they are predictable, recurring operational routines that are easier to manage than projects.

The project itself is temporary and nonrecurring in nature. It has a beginning and an end rather than a repetitive cycle. Thus, projects are by nature chaotic. Making projects even more daunting is that few companies have specialized project teams or departments. The project is assigned to a manager who seems to be a logical choice for the job. If the project is related to marketing, it will probably be assigned within the marketing area of the company. If financial in nature, the accounting or internal auditing department will be likely candidates.

Project scope and duration are impossible to define because projects arise at every level within the organization. This characteristic presents special problems for every manager because merely receiving a project assignment does not necessarily mean that you know what will be involved in the task. This makes scheduling and budgeting difficult, to say the least. A project has to be planned out, defined, and organized before you can know what you are up against in terms of actual management. Thus, you may be given an assignment, budget, and deadline before the project itself has been defined well enough to proceed. It will then be necessary to revise not only the schedule and budget, but perhaps the very definition of the project itself.

The secret to the skilled execution of a project is not found in the development of new skills, but in applying existing skills in a new environment. Projects are exceptional, out of the ordinary, and by definition, temporary in nature. So the problems, restrictions, deadlines, and budget are all outside the normal course of your operations. Some professions deal in projects continuously; for example, engineers, contractors, and architects operate in a project environment for every job they undertake. However, they have the experience to manage any problem that arises because it is part of their "skills package" to operate in ever-changing circumstances where similar problems arise.

You manage a series of problems in your department as an operational fact of life. Your department may be defined in terms of the kinds of problems you face each month and overcome. The controls you apply, budgets you meet, and reports you generate as a result of confronting problems within your operational cycle are the outcomes you know and expect. Assignments are made in the same or similar time sequence from month to month, and routines are performed in the same order, usually by the same employees. Even many of the problems that arise are predictable. However, when you are faced with the temporary and exceptional project, it raises several questions, all of which are related to questions of organization, planning, and control. These include:

How do I get started?

Exactly what is the project meant to achieve or discover?

Who is responsible for what, and how is the effort to be coordinated?

Beyond these are the equally important questions related to budgets, schedules, and assignments to a project team. The project presents a set of new demands that, although temporary in nature, require commitment from limited resources. Your department will be expected to continue meeting its recurring work schedule. Thus, a project places an additional burden on you and the others in your department. If the project also involves working with people in other departments, it will create even more potential problems. The point at which responsibility and work processes occur between departments often is also the point at which the smooth processing of the project routine is likely to be disrupted.

Background for Project Management

The difficulties you face as a project manager can be made to conform with a logical system for planning and execution, even when you need to continue managing your department at the same time. Much thought has gone into the science of project management on many levels. If you work regularly in a project environment, you can find assistance and support from several sources, including the Project Management Institute (PMI).

This book adheres to the standards expressed by the Project Management Institute and attempts to present readers with a concise overview of the principles they'll need to employ as project manager. To begin, it is important to define some of the basic principles and ideas underlying the work of project management.

Project Definitions

The project is best defined in two ways:

1. By comparing a project to a routine

2. By knowing the operational constraints associated with projects

A "project" has different meanings in each organization and may also vary from one department to another. For the...